Coming off a win at the Masters Series-Cincinnati, his first tournament title in 12 months, and in the midst of a career resurgence with the help of part-time coach Jimmy Connors, Andy Roddick says his confidence is back -- even if you can't necessarily call it a good year.

"It's been seven months of not playing my best stuff," said Roddick Saturday of his slide out of the Top 10 that actually started 12 months ago with his shock opening-round loss at the 2005 US Open. "I said last week in Cincy, I'm not really looking at it as a full year right now. It's like, okay, after Wimbledon I'm kind of looking at it as post-Wimbledon, you know. That part of the year is gone. I can't really do much about it at this point."

Under his older brother John, Roddick had been mired in a malaise of unaggressive play and uncertain court strategy. That all changed with the addition of Connors to Team Roddick, a move that not only has the former No. 1 playing big-bang forehand tennis again, but with more "fire" and energy throughout his matches

"I feel like I'm doing the right thing," says Roddick of his current approach. "I'm playing well. I'm hitting the ball well. I'm excited to get up and play every day, and that's a feeling that's been missing a little bit. I'm ready to go here."

Roddick's frustration showed in 2006 with an increased tendency toward giving chair umpires a tongue-lashing and losing his cool in big-match situations rather than bearing down and getting back into matches. He wasn't hitting out on groundstrokes or serves, and opponents were zeroing in on his tentative backhand.

"I was frustrated with the way I was playing," Roddick said. "There's a big difference between going to the courts hoping you're going to hit the ball well, and knowing you're going to hit the ball well. In the last month or so I've gone to the courts knowing that I'm going to play well, it's just a matter of if my opponent's going to be playing better. That's a lot better feeling, a lot easier feeling to wake up with than kind of uncertainty."

From a mental and even physical standpoint, Roddick's resurgence has a lot to do with the guidance, or perhaps the mere presence, of the no-nonsense Connors.

"Obviously, I don't think Jimmy's role plays a small part in it," Roddick said. "That's kind of been reinvigorating. His passion for the game is contagious. You know, that's exciting. Just kind of like a fresh start, you know? I'm definitely hungry to turn it around."

Not unlike Brad Gilbert's new partnership with Andy Murray, Roddick has had to conform to Connors' rules and work mentality, with obvious results.

"I know what I'm not allowed to get away with it," Roddick said of working with Connors. "I have to go out there and I have to bust it every day. That's not (just) good -- that's expected in his eyes. Just his knowledge for the game. You know, it's just clicked. I'm excited about it."

Also not lost on Roddick is the "legend factor" of working with Connors.

"He'll hit for 20 minutes after each practice, and every day after I find myself just sitting there and watching," Roddick said. "I'm a huge fan. I try not to be too much of a dork around him."

Currently hanging on in the Top 10 at No. 10, Roddick says he has no qualms about being surpassed in the rankings by good friend James Blake. The only surprise has been his slide.

"If you would have told me James (would be) five in the world at the beginning of the year, it wouldn't have surprised me," Roddick said. "But if you would have told me I was, you know, whatever I am now, I don't even know, then I would have been a little disappointed in that."

Rebounding from a first-round loss last year at the US Open, Roddick has nowhere to go but up in terms of ranking points, and with Connors at his side, looks to avoid the brain cramp that began his gradual falling down the ranks.

"I just laid an egg, to be honest," said Roddick on being bounced by Luxembourg's Gilles Muller last year at Flushing Meadows. "I played a bad match. I'd been playing well. I won the US Open Series coming in, so preparation I don't think was an issue. It was a bad match. I actually played well afterwards again in Davis Cup and won a tournament, you know, so it was just a bad time for a really bad match."

On Tuesday or Wednesday Roddick will open his campaign against unheralded Frenchman Florent Serra. One year wiser, Roddick will attempt to prove his MS-Cincy title this summer was no fluke, and erase the memory of 2005, Gilles Muller, and too much time on his hands after an early exit.

"I think you do draw from that experience," said Roddick of last year's defeat. "I definitely want to do everything in my power to avoid that again."

“It’s amazing and fun,” Andy noted about Arthur Ashe Kids Day in his press conference at 2pm today. “They mix music and tennis while kicking off the Open,it’s great!”

Despite the dark clouds and rain coming over the horizon this morning instead of the sun, the grounds were dry by opening hour and the day hit a record high of 23,000+ attendants with a fantastic Center Court show. Andy was in a great mood through his press conference, Foundation fund-raising target practice, and Men’s Singles event.

In Andy’s first activity, his press conference, he sported a white”L” Lacoste hat and a black shirt under a white warm-up jacket, and commented on the 2006 hot topics. Andy noted that Jimmy’s passion for the game of tennis is contageous, that he is hungry to turn his game around, and how Andy tries not to act like too much of a dork in front of Jimmy. Closing comments were on the Instant Replay system, Andre’s departure, and his birthday plans (which is not to lose).

From there, Andy took to Arthur Ashe Court for some forehand and backhand target practice to raise funds for the foundation or charity of their choice along with Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, and Ellen Degeneres(comedian and talk show host). Andy, Andre, and Steffi earned $25,000 each for earning the high scores, and then they went on to chat with Daisy Fuentes for a few minutes prior to the Men’s Singles and a song from Ne-Yo, “So Sick.”

A few minutes later,Andy and Andre came out for the single’s event,which lasted about ten minutes, and they were both wired with microphones to add to the hit. Ellen Degeneres was the chair umpire, clad in a “tennis sweater” and knee-high socks, and started off the match with a platter of food and letting Andre have the first serve. Andre responded to Andy, “See, I told you she likes me better!” As play went on, Ellen started saying how nice and quiet tennis is… but didn’t stop there and humorously rambled right through Andre’s serve and the whole point, and the stadium just laughed along. As she continued her “commentating”, and Andy stepped up the the line he asked Ellen, “Are you done yet?” Ellen responded,” I’m not sure…” Andy tossed the ball to serve and Ellen piped up again, “No, I’m not done yet,” and the crowd roared with laughter.

Ellen’s humor continued to add to the match as she called a “time-out” and ran down to give Andre a hug, saying that he needed a hug because he was losing. Andy hollered back to Ellen as she climbed in the umpire’s chair that he was the one who was actually losing, and Ellen proceeded to Andy’s side of the court. Andy dropped the ball and racquet, ran with open arms and so did Ellen, and Ellen proceeded to literally jump into Andy’s arms. See the pictures from today for the full affect!